LA Submission Guidelines

Language Arts is the premier journal for the teaching of language arts, focusing primarily on issues concerning children of preschool through middle school age. This peer-reviewed publication draws a diverse readership of teachers, researchers, teacher educators, policymakers, administrators, and all those with an interest in language, literacy, literature, and culture. We welcome the submission of high-quality contributions on language arts teaching and learning, broadly defined and enacted across a range of contexts.

Editors Rick Coppola, Sandra L. Osorio, and Rebecca Woodard offer the following calls for manuscripts.

See LA Calls for Manuscripts for information on upcoming themed issues.

Editors
Rick Coppola (Chicago Public Schools and University of Illinois at Chicago), Sandra L. Osorio (Illinois State University), and Rebecca Woodard (University of Illinois at Chicago). Please direct questions for this team to NCTE.LAjournal@gmail.com.

Manuscript Submissions
Language Arts invites two types of submissions: Feature Articles and Perspectives on Practice.

Feature Articles include original research studies of literacy and language, preschool through grade 8. Characterized by methodological and theoretical soundness, feature articles include portraits of the language arts across multiple contexts and modalities, provide clear implications for teaching and learning, and make a significant contribution to advancing knowledge in the field. We may also consider submissions that are more conceptual in nature and that attend to broader issues, research trends, and policies shaping the field of language arts. Feature articles should be fully blinded and approximately 6,500 words in length, including references. These submissions go through a systematic peer-review process.

Perspectives on Practice submissions speak directly to the diverse practitioners of the language arts, including teachers, librarians, literacy specialists, children’s book authors and illustrators, professional development providers, and more. Submissions may include a description of an innovative teaching strategy; an exploration of promising new apps, book series, or games that support literacy learning; insights related to creating children’s literature; professional learning opportunities that nurture inquiry and reflection; perspectives on current or controversial issues in the field of language arts; or additional topics determined by the author. These first-person contributions are chosen by the editors and are engaging and accessible to the multiple audiences of Language Arts. Submissions should be approximately 1,000–1,500 words.

Writing for Language Arts
Prior to submitting your manuscript, we recommend reading widely within the journal as well as consulting this article written by previous editors of the journal.

Manuscript Submission Instructions
All manuscripts should be submitted electronically. Please register as an author at our online manuscript submission and review system, Editorial Manager. Once logged into the system, follow the instructions to upload your submission. In the Article Type drop-down menu, please choose either Feature Article or Perspectives on Practice. Be sure to indicate in the Comments section the issue date and theme for which you are submitting (e.g., July 2022: Learning with and in Community). Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged by email.

Where possible, please include charts, graphs, children’s artifacts, bulleted points, and/or figures to vary the format, enhance the content of the article, and include children’s voices where appropriate. Digital images in accepted manuscripts must be at least 300 dpi at the size they will be used.

Format
All manuscripts should be prepared according to the style specified in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association with the following exceptions: (a) a running head should appear on the cover page and all subsequent pages; (b) page numbers should appear on all pages; (c) the end matter should be ordered as follows: Author’s Note, Children’s Books Cited (only for cases in which there is a lengthy children’s book list), and References. Please double-space the manuscript. Do not use footnotes or endnotes. To ensure impartial review, information that identifies the author should not appear in the manuscript.

Review Process
All submissions to Language Arts go through an initial screening process in which they are read by the editorial team. Feature articles chosen to undergo additional peer review are sent anonymously to at least two members of the Editorial Review Board. There are several factors editors consider when making publication decisions. These factors include the potential of the manuscript to advance knowledge and inform practice in the field, the quality of the writing, and to appeal to the journal’s diverse readership. NOTE: The review process will not begin until the submission deadline has passed for the issue.

Agreements and Permissions
Manuscripts submitted to Language Arts should not have been previously published, nor should they include previously published material. Manuscripts should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Should a manuscript contain excerpts from previously published sources that require a reprint fee, the permissions acquisition and fee payment are the responsibility of the author.

All reported data that involve human participants should be collected and analyzed under appropriate ethical standards.

Language Arts editors reserve the right to make editorial changes in any manuscript accepted for publication to enhance clarity, conciseness, or style. The editors’ decisions are final.

Language Arts Editorial Office
Attn: Rebecca Woodard
1040 W. Harrison St. (MC 147)
Chicago, IL 60607